May 3 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Fresh off his recall to the Indian team, Yuzvendra Chahal was guilty of conceding the most expensive over in Rajasthan Royals’ bowling innings. 21 runs came off the 13th over. IPL’s highest wicket taker found his match in 20-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy. On Thursday night at the Uppal, the Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder was simply too good with the bat. Nitish’s 76* (42b, 3×4,8×6) was his second fifty in the season. And he’s had a couple of promising spells with his medium pace too.
The bar is so low in Indian cricket; when any pace bowling all-rounder has a good day, the performance glows. Only the other day, Chief selector Ajit Agarkar made it clear that his committee saw no one who could challenge Hardik Pandya’s spot even when he’s endured a forgettable IPL season with bat and ball.
In Nitish’s case though, it’s no longer a case of one or two good days. With the ball, you may recall the slower bouncer that saw the back of Punjab Kings’ Jitesh Sharma. Those who follow Ranji trophy would remember his back-breaking spell for Andhra to get rid of Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer with the short ball. Nitish has 52 first-class at an average of 23. And his T20 smarts with the bat are second to none. For someone so young, there’s certainly some promise.
When Chahal gave the ball air, Nitish carted him for maximum over his head. When the leg-spinner went wider, Nitish showed he had the reach to send it one bounce over extra cover. Chahal changed his lines and twice foiled Nitish’s reverse hits. Back to giving air at a shortened length and the youngster flat batted it for six down the ground. Clearly, Nitish had been taking lessons on picking up spinners’ lengths from Heinrich Klassen. Chahal had to go defensive again and hurl it down leg, but this time Nitish connected his reverse hit over point for a four. It’s a genuine scoring option for Nitish as his lofted shots in the V.
It was his day and Nitish wasn’t going to show any politeness to seniority. After taking Chahal down for 23 runs in 10 balls, he scored 21 runs in 8 balls off Ravichandran Ashwin. His 44 runs against the two experienced spinners came in a mere 18 balls. Together with Travis Head, Nitish laid the foundation for Klassen to do further damage in the death overs.
It’s not just the right-hander’s clean ball-striking, his understanding of his role and execution has caught the eye. In a previous match against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur, when the ball was moving in the air and off the pitch, Nitish had the wits and technique to play out pace, and attack spin. With his team in a spot of bother at 64/4 in the 10th over, he attacked left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar. That day too, 38 of his runs came against spin off 16 balls. And he’s shown to be a good hitter against pace too.
“Actually, last year also I was waiting for batting opportunity which I did not get, but I did get to bowl. I am a genuine all-rounder who can bat, ball and field as well,” Nitish said. “From the last two matches, we are losing quick wickets and I have to go. My role is to carry on till the 13th and 14th over so that Klaasen gets a license to bang. There is no point that Klaasen and (Abdul) Samad are coming early, but not getting to score freely. When I saw Chahal, I had to go.”
SRH captain Pat Cummins added: “He (Nitish) is fantastic. He summed up the conditions really well, took the first ten balls and then basically hit it wherever he wanted. He is great in the field and gives a couple of handy overs as well.”
For the rising star from the port town of Visakhapatnam, who counts Hardik as his role model, he’s begun to carve his own path.
